'Burnley is a magnificent place for making it happen': Insider's Invest In Burnley breakfast

Insider Media

Once the beating heart of the Industrial Revolution, Burnley has evolved from its traditional industries into a hub of advanced manufacturing and technology. At Insider's Invest in Burnley breakfast, we found nothing less than a thriving town, with industry supported by thick pillars of collaboration, skills development, innovation and opportunity.  Here we speak to some of our panellists for their insights into the future of the town.

Transcript

00:00So I'm Sam Fagan, Managing Director Commercial at our family business Fagan & Worley.

00:15We're a 7th generation logistics company operating out of Burnley as our head office,

00:21it's where we've been for the past 98 years, but multiple depots across the country as

00:26well to support our delivery network.

00:27I thought the event was fantastic, it was really good, it got a lot of people into the

00:31room, a lot of businesses from the area and also some I think not from the area as well.

00:36Some really good conversations, the first panel was excellent about education, investment

00:41in the area, the new university in Burnley is something that's really kicked the area

00:46off really and sort of give it a place on the map for education.

00:50And then the second panel as well with the local business was good to hear from different

00:53businesses, some family businesses, some that have got private equity investment and

00:59it was just a fantastic event to hear so many diverse ranges of people's experiences, business

01:05experiences.

01:06I think the strength of Burnley is about our people, the people of Burnley, the people

01:10of Lancashire, we're a group of people that are friendly, wanting to do business, wanting

01:15to talk, there's nothing really off the table when you want to meet, people will meet just

01:20for a chat because there might be something in it from a business point of view, from

01:23an investment point of view maybe.

01:28We operate in other areas of the country, we're in the Midlands, we're in Coventry,

01:32we've got a depot in South Wales as well, in Newport and there's nothing like Burnley

01:37when it comes to people wanting to talk, wanting to get together, wanting to fill a room like

01:40we have done today.

01:41So hi, I'm Cathy Jackson, I'm the Pro Vice Chancellor of Health and Campus Development

01:46at the University of Central Lancashire.

01:50I think the event was great today to get that mixing of minds from all sorts of different

01:55areas coming together to discuss Burnley and the future of Burnley and how we can help

02:00Burnley develop.

02:01So at UCLan's involvement in Burnley we've grown since 2008 when we first came, certainly

02:09in the last 10 years the numbers have grown and grown and grown and what we have been

02:14able to do is look at the work skills shortage, so originally in health but also in areas

02:21of engineering, business and to develop those areas and as the numbers have grown we've

02:26got better and better facilities, we've been working very closely with the council and

02:30Burnley College to look at that educational piece in Burnley and not just for Burnley

02:37but bringing people into Burnley, so now bringing people in from all over the world to Burnley

02:42to come and study here, they love Burnley, once they get here they love Burnley, it's

02:48a great place what's not to love and we're looking to develop that further, working with

02:53the businesses, working with the region, working with the council, working with the NHS to

02:59look at how we can create that sustainable pipeline of skilled workers and help Burnley

03:06and the surrounding areas to develop and grow.

03:09I love Burnley, I love Burnley, I didn't know Burnley very well until about 10 years

03:14ago but what I like about Burnley is it's a real community and it's not just a real

03:20community of people but it's a real community of businesses and everybody's pulling in the

03:25same direction, it's a joy to work in Burnley because it's a very good place for getting

03:31things done and so if you've got a good idea, you've got an idea you want to develop in

03:37any way, it doesn't matter what it is, Burnley's a magnificent place for making it happen,

03:43the wraparound is phenomenal, so it's a really exciting, buzzy place.

03:48So I'm Neil Welsh, I'm the financial planner for event sponsors PM&M, or one of the event

03:53sponsors PM&M, so working on the financial planning side but working alongside my colleagues

03:58on the accountancy and corporate finance side.

04:02Yesterday has been superb, I'm a huge advocate of all things Burnley anyway, coming from

04:08the town, having worked in and around for all of my life, and I thought the panel did

04:14a really good job of bringing that all together, as Luckman alluded to, there was a generation

04:23that saw a shrink in Burnley with the loss of Lucas, Michelin and other larger employers

04:31and the narrative for a number of years was one that the town had at the very least shrunk

04:37if not died, so to be involved in the resurgence of that, with PM&M being bondholders and almost

04:47being then the ambassadorial advocates of the town and its industries, and the way that

04:55does combine education with the council and with businesses is hugely important.

05:01So you go and see these local businesses, you come back inspired by what they're doing,

05:07and you go to somewhere like BCW Engineering and you're looking at a 1500kg block of aluminium

05:14that gets 1000kg machined off it and ends up being the landing gear of an Airbus A380,

05:19and these things happen 400m away from the road that you drive past day by day,

05:25it's fascinating stuff. I've seen Mark on the panel from AMS Neve and his involvement in the

05:33town and the music industry, I know they did a lot of work with Joy Division back in the day,

05:39there's that iconic Soundwaves album cover for Transmission, but Burnley has its sound,

05:46those Soundwaves do influence the world. In terms of excitement and inspiration,

05:52I think if I was to pin that on one thing it would be the connection that education brings.

05:58For the last few years I've been invited by Burnley College Themis through Neil Burrows

06:03to be a judge of their Themis Inspire and Achieve awards, and when you're judging the apprentices

06:09and for awards on their absolute talents and passions, you see that conveyor belt of young,

06:19passionate, enthusiastic, talented people coming into the workplace,

06:25it's really exciting to see the awards say Inspire and Achieve, it is inspirational,

06:32you come away from that with a warm glow, knowing that those people will then populate the University

06:38of Lancashire, go on to the businesses in the town, hopefully stay in the town, the future's

06:45bright. I think Burnley's very good, and Bond Hall's very good at speaking with a collective

06:52and loud voice that does get heard, it could get heard more internationally, there is more

07:01opportunity to shout a little bit louder. If there was one accusation it would be that

07:09there's a degree of shouting through your own letterbox, so it's making sure that you're

07:13shouting into the megaphone and you're shouting out into the wider world, but the bigger the noise

07:18you make locally, the further away it's heard, so yeah, it's a balancing act.

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